Investigation: Officer didn’t report tip on missing man later found dead in pond

WEST CHESTER — A West Chester police officer has resigned after an investigation found she failed to report information about a missing man who later was found dead in a pond.

Police responded to Union Station Apartments on March 19 after a person walking their dog thought they saw a body in the water.

The body recovered was identified as Alexander Enslen, 31, who was reported missing on January 31.

Enslen had been reported as a missing person when he disappeared while walking on Cincinnati Dayton Road in the early morning hours. He was last seen walking behind a Domino’s Pizza location on Cincinnati Dayton Road around 1 a.m., according to WCPO.

His body was recovered about a block away from where he was last seen.

An internal investigation found that Officer Margaret Clem received a tip from a maintenance worker on March 11 of a possible body in the pond but the officer informed them it had already been searched and nothing had been found, according to our news partners at WCPO.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Body pulled from Butler Co. pond Saturday ID’d as man missing since January

“Officer Clem informed them the apartment property, including the retention pond, was searched by police utilizing sonar and dive teams and nothing was located,” the report states according to WCPO.

Clem cleared the scene and did not inform others in the department, according to the report.

Officials told WCPO the Enslen family was made aware of Clem’s failure to make a report.

Enslen’s death has been ruled an accidental drowning, according to the preliminary findings of the Butler County Coroner’s Office.

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